The building was a cornerstone of Jackson’s Poindexter Park NRHD. The three-story, education building built in 1940, along with the two-story education building and a chapel building still remain built facing Adams Street in 1957. I don’t know the architect(s) of these buildings.

r h hunt company, chattanoga, tn–so important in the south in the late 19th and early 20th centuries–. designed buildings of all types all over. and, the wonderful beaux arts plan of mississippi normal college(now usm), in hattiesburg, 1912(sadly compromised now)— hunt’s dates—1862-1937. his firm did a number of buildings of various types in hattiesburg before and after the usm commission, including several churches and my maternal grandfather’s house.

the churches, like the jackson example, usually followed the ‘akron plan’— entry on corners with a large auditorium in the center; often the auditorium was connected to a smaller meeting room by sliding, hinged, or ‘dropped’ doors–enabling both rooms to be turned into one large one–very functional; educational and office areas in boxy extensions behind, towers were important in hunt’s designs—which were variations on gothic(jackson example) and romanesque themes– and, these towers became ‘focal points’ wherever these churches were built. the old first baptist church in hattiesburg, formerly on s main street was a hunt design, while the hunt-created bay street presbyterian church still stands not far from the site of the fbc.

this firm –there a branch in texas, too–trained so many architects who went on to establish their own offices.

as usual, typing in a rush–the family home designed by the hunt company–classic colonial in style, to use the barber term– was built for my great grandfather, abner polk ca 1906. my maternal grandfathe and his siblings grew up here. i was fortunate to live here with him there in the 1970s.

My mother was born at 106 River Avenue right down from your grandfather’s home by the creek, She entered first grade at Eaton in 1922. I have her “Everyday Classics First Reader.” Any chance that Eaton is in any way connected to that R.H. Hunt cluster in Old Town Hattiesburg?

yes, of course—! can’t remember everything all the time, while trying to do ‘real work’, too. a the moment, am working on a draft of a short paper on a rare pattern of french scenic wallpaper, re-melting some candle stubs, and cleaning a lot of bottles for re-cycling.

R.H.Hunt left his signature all over Greenwood: Davis School 1900 (burned 1980), Leflore County Courthouse, First Methodist Church, First Presbyterian Church, Elks Lodge. Someone with the Commonwealth spoke with the architect’s office that “descended” from his practice in Chattanooga; they were told that all his notes and plans had been tossed at some point.

I find it hard to believe that this magnificient structure was demolished. I walked past it almost every weekday from 1946-1948 and occasionally both before and after those dates. I understand that the stained glass windows were sold prior to the building’s demolition. I trust that whoever owned the structure at the time had those windows evaluated by a really good appraiser prior to disposing of them. After I retired from 40 years in academics I worked for a major auction house and learned that world class museum-quality glass can slip right through one’s fingers without proper authentication.

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